James Blake Interview Masters Cup - November 13, 2006
Posted on November 14, 20062006 TENNIS MASTERS CUP
SHANGHAI, CHINA
November 13, 2006
J. BLAKE/R. Nadal
6-4, 7-6
THE MODERATOR: Questions for James, please.
Q. James, is that like a really good match for you because in the past maybe at times you'd unravel when you'd be looking at 4-Love down and you kind of really held it together and found your range to come back.
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, that was something I'm really proud of, to get down 4-Love against one of the best players in the world and not hang my head, not try to change tactics, not do anything outside of my comfort zone, keep playing my game and see if I can be on top at the end.
It's not as easy to do as it sounds, and it took me years to be able to do that. I'm really proud I'm doing a lot better this year.
Q. You just have more and more baseline attack even when you lose some momentum. Do you think any improvement of your net play, or maybe it makes it easier to deal with Roger?
JAMES BLAKE: I don't know. Maybe. But I'd rather focus on the positives, like the fact that I just beat the No. 2 player in the world.
Yeah, things can always be better, but in my book, that's pretty good. So I'm happy with the way I played. I'm sure my net play could have been a little better, but I'm sure that he's thinking that some things in his game could have been better, too. So I'm happy with the way I played.
There's gonna be days where I don't volley as well. He hits a really, really heavy ball, as I'm sure most people can see. But to actually face that when it's coming at you at net is much different than most guys, so it makes it more difficult to volley. So against most other guys, I think I will volley a lot better.
Q. You were one of the last guys to get into the field. Were you a bit nervous or on edge when the Paris tournament was going on?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I'm not one of the last guys, I actually am "the" last guy. I'm the guy that's supposed to be the easy matchup, the easy match in this tournament, which doesn't help my confidence too much. But I'm just happy to be here.
I was definitely nervous. I was biting my nails. I was a little scared watching Tommy play in his match against Hrbaty. I was on a plane when Ancic played Davydenko, 'cause that one had a big fact -- that one was a big factor here. So that made it easier on my nerves.
It's definitely more difficult to watch and to not be in control of your own destiny. Once I lost to Tommy, it's a tough situation. But, still, I'm proud of the year I had. And now I've been given an opportunity, and gonna try to take advantage of that opportunity to be here.
Q. I'd like to know your victory over Nadal is already 3-0. What is your comment on why you can get so many victories over him, and what kind of recommendations will you offer to the opponents of Nadal in the future?
JAMES BLAKE: Uhm, well, I don't have any specific advice for any other players how to beat Nadal. It's not easy. As I've been walking through the locker room and through the grounds people have been saying, you know, how well I was playing and how big I was hitting the ball, but when you think about it, you really have to go for your shots, sometimes have a lower margin of error to put balls away against him. He's so fast and plays defense so well that it's tough.
I've been lucky enough to play him all three times on hard courts, which is definitely my favor more so than if I were to play him at the French Open, where obviously he's the best in the world.
So I don't have any specific advice. Just for me, it's keep playing my game. I got a lot of confidence from beating him the first time, and then I've carried that over to these last two times. I don't know if I match up well with him or I just happen to play some of my best tennis against him. I think more so that I've played some of my best matches against him, and that's just maybe coincidence. I don't know.
Q. James, at the start of that second set when I think you went 2-Love down, you thrashed a return into the net to lose a game. What was happening there? Were you just thinking, "I just want to get this out of the way," then you went 4-Love down and began to really pick it up. What was happening there?
JAMES BLAKE: Well, I think -- I hope anyone here who has seen me play before, some of those returns that I thrash actually go in. That's what I was trying to do.
You know, down 40-Love, I looked for it to come to my forehand, and sometimes on that 40-Love point I'll just take it and try to end the point quickly. That's what I did.
When it doesn't go in, it looks foolish and looks bad. I guess I have to suck up my ego and deal with that, and deal with probably the commentators ripping me in the box or saying how badly I'm playing or poor decision or anything like that.
Then when those go in, that's a lot of times the reason I'm winning matches 'cause guys are then maybe scared of that shot or they don't know how to react and it can make them a little nervous not knowing what I'm going to do, if I can just haul off and hit a winner at any time. That's what happened there.
Then, again, played a not-so-good game to get broken the next time. But Rafael made some great gets, played defense well. Never stopped competing throughout the whole match.
So he makes it difficult for you. For me to get it back after 4-Love, I said earlier, I'm really proud of myself for keeping my head up. I very easily could have lost that 6-0 'cause I was gonna keep going for my shots the way I did. If they just weren't going in, they weren't going in, and I lose the set 6-0, I hope I would have kept going for my shots, kept my head high, and been able to pull it out in the third set. But I don't know.
That's just the way I have to play 'cause I'm never gonna win a match against him playing really conservative, just playing safe. There's gonna be times I'm sure at some point in the future where it looks terrible and I could lose to him 2-2, but that's still my best chance to win.
That's what I was doing and that's how I was playing out there.
Q. As we know, you used to be a student of Harvard. Why did you choose to be a professional tennis player instead of staying at world-renowned university?
JAMES BLAKE: (Smiling). Well, I don't know if you guys know this, but I had a lot of fun out there today. This is my job. So to have fun at your job is pretty rare. Also, to make whatever I just made today, about $120,000 in a day's work, even for a Harvard grad that's not easy (laughter).
I'm pretty happy with the way things have turned out. But to be honest, when I was there, I had no idea what kind of success was ahead of me. What I did know was this is what I've he dreamed of, is to play tennis for a living. I never thought it was a reality until I was so close to it.
Then I just thought long and hard with my parents, who really stressed education and wanted me to stay at school, but once they realized that I was dedicated to this a hundred percent, they supported me. I just know that I can learn forever, but I can only play tennis at this level for so many years. When my body gives out, which I'm sure it will, hopefully many more years on tour, but when my body gives out, I can go back and continue to enrich my mind and go back to Harvard and finish for two more years.
It's gonna make, I hope, my transition much easier into the real world when I am done with tennis. I know I have two more years of college to finish up, and then I can figure out what else I love doing in this world.
Q. Many current champions, Connors, McEnroe, Sampras, Agassi, today you played on the same stage. Did you have any special feeling or anything?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, this whole tournament does have a very special feel. It's different than all the others. First time I've been in a round-robin format like this in the pros, so it's exciting to me to see.
There's definitely a little more, I think, camaraderie among the top players right now at this tournament than there is normally at the other events. It's a bit of mutual respect for how hard we've all worked to get here, we know how difficult it was, even though guys like Roger and Rafael make it look very easy, it's not easy to do. It's tough week in, week out to put up the results that all the guys here have.
It's a lot of fun. That gives you a very special feeling to know that you're among a pretty elite group of players, and to think about those guys that have come in the past from America, like you said, Connors, McEnroe, Sampras, Agassi, Chang, Courier, it's incredibly impressive. I'm happy to be a part of it.
Q. Going back to today's match, do you have any tactical explanation about the fact that you beat Nadal three times?
JAMES BLAKE: I don't know. If I can tell someone else how to hit their forehand like me, I'd try to, but I'm not that good of a coach. I'm a better player than coach. I'll let my coach do a press conference sometime to tell you what to do tactically. He's the one that gives me the advice. I go out there and try to execute it.
It just happens that I matched up well against him. I've been able to get my forehand working, controlling points. You really have to go for a lot against him. I've been able to make those shots, to go for my shots, and they've been going in against him. I don't know how else to describe it.
Q. At the ceremony for Roger Federer, it constituted a prelude to the match. Do you envy him? Do you have a confidence to beat the champion of this year's Masters Cup?
JAMES BLAKE: I don't know if "envy" is the exact word I'd use. We all want to be No. 1 in the world. That's a given. When you do anything, you want to be the best at it.
To be realistic and to be thankful for everything you have is also important. I'm very thankful that I'm No. 8 in the world now. I'm thankful that I'm even playing. I've always felt like the best thing I can do for myself is at the end of my career be proud of whatever I did because there's no reason to complain or be upset or really dwell on whether or not you have enough God-given talent to get to No. 1. I know I've worked as hard as I possibly can, done everything I can to prepare. If I don't get there, I try to just have no regrets and not worry about the fact that I didn't get there, just be happy with where I am, because I know someone that's ranked 100 in the world is wishing they were No. 8.
Anytime you look up at a guy like Roger, you have to look down at who's below you. I try not to envy anyone really. I just try to do the best with what I was given, and I'm pretty proud of that right now.
In terms of whether or not I have the confidence to beat him, every time I go out on the court against him, I think I have a chance to win. But every time at the end of the match, he's come out on top (smiling).
You know, I have to say he is obviously the best player in the world right now. He's the guy that is the favorite to win here. That doesn't change the fact that on any given day any one of us can go out there and beat him. It's not easy. You really have to play a perfect match. I have the confidence to go out there and give it my best and hopefully be on top at the end.
But you never know.
Q. Among eight singles players in this year in Masters Cup, you're only younger than Ivan Ljubicic. Do you think of yourself as a late-bloomer? You lost a big portion of your time due to some serious injuries. Do you sometimes think this kind of experience makes you stronger so you can be so good this season?
JAMES BLAKE: 'Yes' to both of those questions. I definitely feel like I'm a late-bloomer. I went to college for two years. A lot of these guys turned pro and were playing these kind of pro tournaments when they were 17, 16 years old. I was worried about chemistry and physics at that time.
Now once I did start on tour, I felt like it took me a while still because I had to adjust to this life and this level of play. Now that I have done that, and I feel like I'm getting better each year, each month, each day, it's a good feeling. But I kind of feel a little younger in tennis years, is what I call it, than some of the other guys because, like you said, I lost a whole year in 2004 and I didn't start until late.
It seems like guys get more burnt out or their bodies give out just from the grind of the travel, so I don't feel like I'm as old as my age really says, since I hope I can last longer, the fact that I did start later and I maybe don't have as many miles or as much wear-and-tear on my body as some of the other guys. That being said, I've also had my share of injuries so my body might be more fragile, we'll see. But hopefully it's gonna be a fun ride.
I definitely think I'm stronger from everything that happened to me in 2004. I don't think I would have won this match today, I don't think I would have won a lot of matches, and I don't think I would be the person I am if all that happened to me didn't happen to me in 2004.
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